Job, Teeth, EVE...

For anyone who missed it, I finally broke down and got a part-time job stocking shelves at Menard's. No biggie, but it does illustrate how poor the IT industry here in Michigan is, mostly thanks to the warmongering of a certain fellow in the whitehouse. By that, I mean that if the, roughly, 100 BILLION dollars that were spent in the first phase of the Iraq "war" had been used to stablize the economy and shore things up after the dot-com implosion, we'd be well on the road to recovery now. Instead, many parts of the country are still flailing about trying to find ways to continue to enjoy the services of the technology field, without having to pay for it.

I might have also mentioned how much I hate teeth. About two weeks ago, I woke up with a toothache. Upon investigation, I discovered a swelling along the gumline, over the place where my lower right wisdom tooth was, many years ago. After a few days, I assumed it was some weird infection and decided if it didn't go away soon I'd have to go to the dentist to get antibiotics. Last week, I went and was told it was just some irritation caused by something I ate (perhaps), and that a sharp spot on my upper molar was scraping against it, keeping it swollen and tender. No inflamation of the tissue was present, so that rules out an infection (and keeps me from getting drugs, damnit!).

I will say that after my upper tooth was filed a bit, it has gotten better.... but it's STILL tender and is still occasionally bothered by something. My current working theory is Mountain Dew: Code Red. I was doing fine this morning, didn't bother me much at all at work, and as long as I didn't try chewing on that side at lunch, no problem. I finished my Coke and refilled with MDCR, and now it hurts again. Coincidence? Just a fact of using a straw? Or new ebil in the chemical soup that is MDCR.....

EVE-Online continues to amaze me. I discovered the joys of the Buy Order last night. Most people who play EVE know about the market, and most also know about the Sell Order. That's where you have something you want to get rid of, and nobody is offering a good enough price, so you put the item up for sale, specifying the price and how long you'll leave it up for. MOST of the time when you buy something, you are buying off other people's Sell Orders. A Buy Order is the opposite.... you don't want to pay what other people are asking in their Sell Orders, so you specify a price you WILL pay, and how many you want, and how far you're willing to travel to get it. Then, when other people sell things, it fills your Buy Order.

So, instead of paying the local price of 370 ISK for the 12,000 units of Nocxium I need, or paying the 345 ISK price I can get if I'm willing to travel 6 jumps, I set up a Buy Order offering 325 ISK and saying I'd be willing to go up to 10 jumps. In addition, I set the minimum purchase amount to 1000 units, so nobody can sell me 3 units 10 jumps away, and 4 more 8 jumps the other way. In a little over an hour last night, I watched 9,000 units appear, and I suspect the rest are there by now.

Hooray! I'm a more advanced trader now. :)